"Business hasn’t been great lately..."
Sunday night, South District, Nursery Rhyme Pub.
As closing time approached, Yan Huan, dressed in his bartender uniform and wiping down the tables and chairs, heard Tian Li’s words from behind the bar. He paused, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.
Yesterday morning, the wicked hypnosis overlord Ye Shiyu had been utterly shattered from her hypnosis dream after getting a two-clothes-hanger beatdown from the Supreme Authority herself—Aunt Ye. She was probably still grounded in the villa for self-reflection.
Yan Huan did have plans for what came next, but they weren’t something he could execute over the weekend.
So, without Ye Shiyu’s terrifying pressure looming over him, he finally had two days of peace to properly enjoy his weekend.
Of course, that didn’t mean he slacked off on training.
Thanks to the benefits of his Bare Mode, his stamina recovery was almost freakishly fast. Even his training frequency was so intense that even Coach Tong Yingying—who was notoriously strict—couldn’t help but tell him to take a break.
And so, on Sunday, he spent the whole day working at Nursery Rhyme Pub.
Hearing Tian Li’s complaint, he wrung out his cloth, walked over to the bar, and asked,
"Li-ge, business hasn’t been good this week?"
"Ah..."
Tian Li folded his arms and nodded, saying to Yan Huan,
"Didn’t Sister Tong say she wanted to hire another staff member? But with the way things are right now, the two of us are more than enough to handle the crowd..."
Hearing this, Yan Huan suddenly realized—it was the weekend.
Usually, on weekend nights, the customer flow would increase significantly. That’s why when he took weekends off before, Tong Yingying would threaten to dock his pay.
But tonight, the number of customers was barely any different from a weekday.
Which meant... the weekday crowd must be even smaller than usual.
"The tables outside are set up... What are you guys talking about?"
At that moment, Guan Rong clapped her hands together as she walked back in, glancing at the two guys at the bar.
"We’re talking about why business has been slow lately."
"Yeah, Sister Rong, do you know why?"
Guan Rong furrowed her brows, looking just as puzzled. She shook her head and said,
"Not a clue... We all live nearby, and there hasn’t been any new competition opening up around here. Prices haven’t changed, the drinks still taste like Li’s half-assed attempts... What could it be?"
"Hey, I’m right here, you know!"
Yan Huan thought for a moment, took out his phone, and asked,
"Sister Tong knows about this, right?"
"Of course, she’s over there looking at the books right now."
"I mentioned it to her before."
Yan Huan nodded, waved at the couple, and headed toward the back.
"Alright, I’ll find a reason to talk to her. I’m off for today—bye, Li-ge, Sister Rong."
"See you, Little Huan."
With his phone in hand, Yan Huan walked toward the back door.
Tong Yingying was in her usual laid-back pose—wearing a loose black T-shirt and slightly faded jeans.
Her long legs were casually propped up, and under the warm glow of the pub’s lights, she lazily stared at the accounts in her hands with her usual dead-fish eyes.
"Sister Tong."
Hearing his voice, she put down the paperwork, glanced at him, and asked,
"Done cleaning up?"
"Yeah... Li-ge said business has been slow this week?"
"Yeah, it’s been a bit slower."
Her tone was indifferent, as if she didn’t care much. Instead, she looked up at Yan Huan in his bartender uniform.
After giving him a once-over, she nodded and said,
"Looks like it's working—you’re finally starting to fill out that uniform a little."
Yan Huan glanced at his own body and, feeling a bit excited, said to Tong Yingying,
"Yeah, I can tell! But... I feel like I’m still lacking some real strength. Sister Tong, do you think I should add some other types of training?"
Tong Yingying chuckled, as if she thought of something amusing.
"I don’t mind. I’ve got plenty of methods for that... But it’s definitely gonna be tougher than what you’re doing now. Then again, given how insanely resilient you’ve been this past week, I bet you’ll progress fast..."
Yan Huan looked at his phone, then gave her a bright smile.
"All thanks to you, Sister Tong. I really appreciate it!"
"Cut the flattery. If you really wanna thank me, show me something real. Like..."
Where Yan Huan couldn’t see, Tong Yingying’s dead-fish eyes glinted slightly as she licked her lips.
"Snap! Snap!"
In his mind, he vaguely heard the sharp crack of a whip slicing through the air.
But in reality, Yan Huan simply nodded and handed his phone to Tong Yingying.
"Huh? What’s this?"
He didn’t answer. Instead, he passed her the phone.
Taking it, Tong Yingying saw that he had pulled up a social media app and searched for "Nursery Rhyme."
The top user post read:
"Warning! Girls, stay away from this pub called ‘Nursery Rhyme’ in the South District!!"
Tong Yingying blinked and scrolled down to read the post:
"I was just looking for a place to unwind after work, but the moment I saw the prices, my head started spinning. And don’t even get me started on the drinks—limited selection, mediocre taste, terrible atmosphere, and awful service!"
"Special mention to the owner—when I called her over for the bill, she looked at me like I was annoying her, like she was doing me a favor by letting me spend my money there. Total red flag! Avoid at all costs!"
Tong Yingying raised an eyebrow and scrolled further down to the comments section.
"Lmao, first time here? We don’t actually come to this pub for the drinks. We come for the eye candy."
"Right?! The male staff here—whew, total high school heartthrob! I was drooling the whole night."
"I always order three servings of caramel pudding when I go. Not because I like sweets, but because I wanna watch that hottie sweat while making them."
"But I heard the hot guy quit recently? I was gonna go check it out this weekend. Saw some pics from a friend before—damn, I was tempted."
"No clue what’s going on. I live nearby, so I’ll swing by and ask. Stay tuned, I’ll reply to everyone later."
"CY."
"CY."
"Bless you, good person."
"... …"
The more Tong Yingying scrolled, the harder she gripped the phone, her forehead veins visibly twitching.
"Sister Tong, you should check out the other posts too. There’s more—"
Luckily, Yan Huan handed over the phone before he saw the rest of the comments.
Tong Yingying abruptly exited the app, shoved the phone back at him, and clicked her tongue in irritation.
"So what?"
Yan Huan looked at her clearly annoyed expression and started to gently persuade her—
"Sister Tong, take some advice—eat a full meal."
Yan Huan leaned against the bar and continued,
"Li-ge knows his cocktail skills are mid-tier at best. You offered to teach him, but you got lazy about it, so he had to learn everything online.
"That's why our menu is so limited. Maybe that wasn’t a problem before, but now we’ve hit a bottleneck."
He picked up the financial records that Tong Yingying had just been reading and pointed at the glaring red numbers.
"This place was your purchase, Sister Tong. No rent pressure, yet you’re still running it into the ground. That’s actually impressive."
He put the records down and grinned.
"I’ll figure something out to turn this place around. Consider it my way of repaying you for all the training."
Tong Yingying, still sporting her signature dead-fish eyes, opened her mouth to refuse.
She had already decided how she wanted to be repaid—hell, she had even bought the whip to keep him in line with his training.
And now this kid wanted to talk business with her?
But before she could speak, Yan Huan stood up, still smiling.
"Until I figure something out, I’ll drop by the pub more often. Maybe I’ll get some inspiration."
Hearing that he’d be around more often, Tong Yingying rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment.
After a brief silence, she exhaled through her nose and lazily muttered,
"Fine, fine. Have it your way... Seriously, where do you get all this endless energy? Don’t you ever, you know, relieve yourself at night? You train like a lunatic—how do you even fall asleep?"
At that moment, Meow-chan tilted its head and popped up on Yan Huan’s shoulder.
Yan Huan’s smile froze instantly.
"...Sister Tong, I don’t mind crude jokes, but that was just brutal. If you were even a little bit ladylike, you wouldn’t still be single."
Tong Yingying sneered and flicked open her lighter, lighting a cigarette.
"Ladylike? How much is that worth? Or what, do you like that type?"
Yan Huan thought for a second.
For some reason, Vice President Ying Gong's refined and elegant smile surfaced in his mind.
"President~"
So, he nodded and answered honestly,
"Probably... yeah."
Tong Yingying tch'd, exhaling a puff of smoke.
"Then you better start getting over that preference right now."
"Sister Tong, we gotta keep business and personal matters separate. A boss can’t interfere in an employee’s private life... Besides, why? Just because you’re not the ‘ladylike’ type?"
"You think I’m that petty? Kid, it’s because ladylike girls are the best at lying and stabbing you in the back. Got it?"
She waved him off with a smug look that screamed, You’re too young to understand.
"Alright, enough talk. Go home and get some rest—you’ve got school tomorrow, don’t you?"
Yan Huan smirked to himself.
Sister Tong is just bitter she can’t compete with them.
But as he changed clothes, he actually gave her words some thought...
And damn it—she wasn’t completely wrong.
Take Ye Shiyu, for example. If you ignored her overwhelming possessiveness, she had the perfect image of a refined, elegant young lady.
Except… you couldn’t ignore that part.
There was a strange appeal to that contradiction—like a kind of twisted beauty in ignoring reality.
Yan Huan shook his head, dismissing the thought.
For now, reviving the pub’s business was his priority. He’d deal with it later.
Because tonight—Sunday night—was Modifier reward refresh time.
Midnight, Reward Refresh
"Yan Huan, did you forget, meow?"
On the bed of his rented apartment, Meow-chan sat properly in front of him, its fluffy tail curled neatly around its tiny paws.
"As the Modifier level increases, you’ll need more and more Modifier fragments to upgrade, meow."
"So… Ye Shiyu’s dropped fragments still aren’t enough?"
"That’s right, meow. You’re still one short of leveling up."
Yan Huan sighed, but after thinking about it, he realized this was expected.
According to his original plan, the fragments were supposed to drop after the third phase of the process.
He just hadn’t anticipated Aunt Ye being so ridiculously overpowered—wrecking a hypnosis master in a matter of moves and knocking a fragment loose early.
There would be more chances later.
Besides, he couldn’t just farm Ye Shiyu for fragments forever.
Of the three he had collected, two came from her. As for the third? He had no idea who dropped it.
All in all, Ye Shiyu had pretty much paid the full price for her night raid failure.
"Fine, no upgrades for now. Let’s see what this week’s rewards are."
"Meow~"
Meow-chan let out a cute little meow, and as the clock hit midnight, golden mist began to drift from its mouth.
【Modifier Level: 3】
【Reward Pool Level: 1】
【Evolution Path: Light & Dark Pact】
Yan Huan’s gaze locked onto the three glowing golden orbs appearing in front of Meow-chan, each one a different size.
From left to right, they increased in size.
But the smallest orb radiated pure white light, while the largest was shrouded in ominous darkness—symbolizing a blessing and a curse.
Blessing: Muscle-Boosting Body Wash
Effect: Once per day, using this body wash will slightly enhance your workout results.
Reward Level: 1
Description: Wait, what? You rubbed it on your traps?!
Boost: Instant Attribute Gain
Effect: Immediately gain three random attribute fragments and two attribute points.
Yan Huan blinked and looked at Meow-chan.
"What’s the difference between attribute points and fragments?"
Meow-chan nodded and explained,
"Attribute points are just bigger versions of attribute fragments, meow. Fragments only give a tiny increase—so small you might not even notice unless you really pay attention. But attribute points cause an instant noticeable boost."
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Yan Huan stroked his chin.
"Got it... So, what exactly counts as an attribute? I know there's stamina, strength, intelligence, charisma, and... reproduction?"
"There are a lot of attributes, meow. But they mainly fall into two categories—‘internal’ and ‘external.’ The exact effects depend on their descriptions, and even I don’t know how many exist, meow~"
Yan Huan cast a skeptical glance at the supposedly honest little cat but decided to drop it for now. He turned his focus to the next reward.
Ability: Bloodthirsty Berserker
Effect: After drinking the fresh blood of any creature, you will lose all rationality in exchange for a 300% boost in physical capabilities for one hour. The effect can be extended by drinking more blood, up to a max duration of 1.5 hours.
Reward Level: 3
Description: For the glory of the Blood Dynasty!!
Yan Huan’s expression twisted.
Yeah… hard pass on that one.
And then he saw the final reward.
Form: Celibate Ascetic
Reward Level: 5
Effect: By reducing your enthusiasm for all things by 75%, you gain two permanent boosts:
Effect 1: Mind Over Matter – Intelligence, willpower, and all mental attributes increase by 150%.
Effect 2: Indestructible Flesh – Stamina, strength, and all physical attributes increase by 150%.
Curse: Permanent loss of libido and reproductive ability.
Description: No earthly desires.jpg
Yan Huan’s jaw tightened.
This was...
Insanely powerful—but also insanely cursed.
The moment Yan Huan read the final line of text, his face instantly darkened.
And just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, an extra line of shimmering golden text appeared beneath it:
【Warning: You can only have ONE form at a time. Choosing a new form will permanently replace the previous one.】
【Any associated curses will also disappear when switching forms.】
【Your current form: Naturalist.】
Yan Huan finished reading the glowing words one-by-one. Then, in perfect sync, he and Meow-chan lifted their heads to look at each other.
There was a moment of absolute silence.
And then—
"Meow!"
Meow-chan immediately turned and bolted, already knowing what was about to happen.
But it was too late.
Before it could escape, the evil human behind it snatched it up with a vice grip, ready to inflict divine retribution.
"Meow-chan! Explain yourself! What the hell are these garbage rewards?! How am I supposed to fight with this nonsense?!"
"I’ve told you a million times, meow! It’s RANDOM! RANDOM! RANDOM!!"
Yan Huan mercilessly squished Meow-chan’s chubby little face, stretching it into all sorts of miserable shapes.
But just as he was about to exact further punishment, he suddenly remembered—
Despite everything, Meow-chan had actually saved his ass multiple times this week.
...Fine.
He’d let it go. Just this once.
Letting out a deep sigh, Yan Huan released the pitiful Meow-chan, shifting his focus back to the brutal reality before him.
Inside his mental control room, Little Head Yan Huan stood nervously before a panel of smaller mini Yan Huans, each representing a different mental function.
Under the harsh spotlight, sweat dripped down his face as the others stared him down like a jury ready to pass sentence.
"You... You guys... You're not seriously thinking of castrating me, are you?! At least give me some supplements or something! Let me enjoy life first—!"
In the dim light, the Wisdom Yan Huan adjusted his glasses and spoke coldly:
"We may find you annoying most of the time—especially in the mornings—but..."
The Emotion Yan Huan smiled gently.
"But you’ll always be a part of us."
The Memory Yan Huan, with his heavy dark circles, yawned and lazily added,
"Indeed. Indeed."
Little Head Yan Huan’s eyes welled up with tears.
"Everyone..."
But before he could get sentimental, Wisdom Yan Huan furrowed his brows, looking at the options in front of them.
"We have no choice. We have to pick Option One. At least we’ll get some attribute fragments..."
No other choice. Let’s do this!
【Buzz~】
【Congratulations! You have received the following rewards】
【Attribute Fragments: Stamina ×1, Strength ×2】
【Attribute Points: Reproduction ×2】
【Your Reproduction Attribute has greatly increased!】
Yan Huan’s mouth fell open.
He stared blankly at the glowing golden text in front of him.
Inside the brain command center, all the mini Yan Huans froze, their expressions twisting in horror as they processed what had just happened.
"This is disastrous! The rewards this week are trash!"
"Yeah! Without a powerful Modifier ability, how are we supposed to compete with the other Modifier hosts?!"
While the mental control room descended into chaos, something sinister began to loom over the mini Yan Huans.
They all looked up in shock, only to see Little Head Yan Huan growing larger and larger, a twisted grin forming on his face.
"It’s simple."
"I'll just carry us to victory."
"S-SH*T!"
"LITTLE HEAD YAN HUAN HAS ASCENDED!!"
"SUPPLEMENTS, QUICK!"
Yan Huan’s face was as dark as coal.
He glanced down at his own body.
Then he turned to look at Meow-chan, who sat nervously behind him, looking guilty as hell.
Before he could even open his mouth, Meow-chan quickly started meowing frantically, trying to explain itself.
"Uh... Well, you see, meow... All attributes are useful! You will find a way to use them someday... or, uh, maybe even sooner than you think—"
"...Meow-chan. Come here."
"Meow! IT WASN’T MY FAULT, MEOW!!"
Inside the tiny apartment, a chaotic chase between one very angry human and one very terrified cat began.
And just like that, another loud, ridiculous week came to an end.